Who this is
Lukasz Gadowski's first company was Spreadshirt, which lives on today as Spread Group, with him as chairman. In 2006 he launched Gründerszene.de as a private blog with the interview format “Who are you, what do you do?” to make founders approachable. He went on to become a business angel in companies such as StudiVZ, built startups with Team Europe and backed Delivery Hero, which later went public. Today, through Team Global, he invests his holding's capital almost exclusively in deep tech: air taxis such as Zapata and Autoflight, batteries from Theion, lasers from Quanteq and TAU Systems, and the satellite catapult SpinLaunch. He is also a shareholder in Miles Mobility.
Episodes
Numbers from the episode
FAQ
Who is Lukasz Gadowski?
Lukasz Gadowski is a serial founder and investor. He founded Spreadshirt (now Spread Group, where he is chairman), launched Gründerszene.de as a private blog in 2006, invested in StudiVZ among others as a business angel, built companies with Team Europe and helped take Delivery Hero public. Today, through Team Global, he mainly invests in deep tech such as air taxis, batteries and lasers. To the episode →
What does Lukasz Gadowski mean by the “exit lie”?
To him the exit lie is the belief that an exit is something to aspire to. A sale should rather be born out of necessity. The real goal is to build a big company and stay in control, like the founders of the trillion-dollar companies who stayed independent through an IPO. An exit, he says, is a sweetened defeat that only briefly feels like a win. To the episode →
How much did Lukasz Gadowski invest in Autoflight?
In the episode Feliks cites 100 million as a figure from his research. Lukasz neither confirms nor denies it because the company isn't publicly listed. He does make clear the money came not from him privately but from a holding company with no fund structure. Before investing, he watched the founder for two and a half to three years. To the episode →
What does Lukasz Gadowski think of defense startups?
In his own words he is really disappointed in the tech founders and investors now going into defense. You can make money with it, but nobody can control the combination of robotics and weapons. What the world needs, in his view, is peace. “Prosperity and peace” is also one of the points in Team Global's plan. To the episode →
Quotes
„Die Exit-Lüge ist, dass es erstrebenswert sei, ein Exit zu machen. Das ist nicht erstrebenswert.““The exit lie is that making an exit is something to aspire to. It isn't.”
„Aber das Ziel ist nicht der Exit, der Exit ist eine Niederlage.““But the goal isn't the exit. The exit is a defeat.”
„Das heißt, ich sage immer, man kriegt Rückenwind vom Universum.““As I always say, you get a tailwind from the universe.”
„Und ein Flugtaxi ist halt kein Airbus.““And an air taxi just isn't an Airbus.”
„Klar kannst du Geld mit Waffen verdienen. Herzlichen Glückwunsch.““Sure, you can make money with weapons. Congratulations.”